The Three “I Don’t Get It”s

It doesn’t happen very often—I admit, I can’t even remember the last time it happened—but, when it does, it brings my inner laugh-o-meter to a standstill. I’m talking about New Yorker cartoons that I don’t get. When it happens, I feel like I’m in that scene from “Diner” when Kevin Bacon says to Mickey Rourke, “You ever feel like there’s something going on that we don’t know about?” (An echo of Dylan’s line “There’s something happening but you don’t know what it is…”)

I breathed a sigh of relief when the magazine brought the subject out in the open in a two-page spread titled “I Don’t Get It,” in the Cartoon Issue of 2006. Bafflement loves company.

“I Don’t Get It” No. 2:

Convinced that a new drawing I’ve just finished is especially amusing, I sometimes go looking for trouble by showing it to the first family member I run into outside my office (not including the dogs). I hand over the drawing and await the happy verdict. Usually, I get this response: “Ah…I don’t get it.” It’s kind of sad, but that drawing, once so bright with promise, then gets balled up and trashed.

“I Don’t Get It” No. 3:

I’ve saved my favorite for last. Sometimes I don’t get one of my own drawings—meaning, I don’t understand why I ever thought it was worth working on in the first place. Once the drawing is finished, or close to finished, I realize that it’s not even close to being mildly amusing. These drawings are like accidents—you don’t see them coming until it’s too late.